-- ICANN to enable faster, more robust connectivity in Kenya with installation 
of cluster. 

Internet users in Africa will soon benefit from faster access and better 
protection from cyberattacks, thanks to the installation of two root server 
clusters. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the 
global non-profit organization that coordinates the domain name system and 
plays a key role in ensuring a global, interoperable, and secure Internet, 
announced that it will install and manage two new ICANN Managed Root Server 
(IMRS) clusters in Africa, one of which is confirmed to be in Kenya. This is 
ICANN's first-of-its-kind investment in Africa.

PDF - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1755476/IMRS_FAQ_En.pdf
PDF - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1755479/ICANN_In_Africa_EN.pdf

Today, 33 percent of the population in Africa have access to the Internet. 
According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the number of 
individuals using the Internet in Africa grew 23 percent between 2019 and 2021. 
This growth is driven by a digitally savvy, young, and educated urban 
workforce, for whom the adoption and consumption of online services is second 
nature.

Installation of the IMRS clusters will add crucial capacity to support the 
growth in Internet use across Africa. This, in turn, will underpin economic 
growth and bring opportunities for a large share of new Internet users. The 
clusters ensure that Internet queries from Africa can be answered within the 
region, and not be dependent on networks and servers in other parts of the 
world, thus reducing latency and improving Internet user experience in the 
entire region.

"Extending our infrastructure in Africa is in line with ICANN's mission to 
ensure that the Internet remains secure, stable and resilient across the 
world," said Göran Marby, ICANN President and CEO. "Adding the clusters in 
Africa is a key step to stimulating Internet access and to strengthening the 
Internet stability of the entire continent. Of course, this could only be 
achieved with the participation of the local community. We are grateful to the 
Ministry of ICT, Innovation and Youth Affairs in Kenya for their support in 
establishing the IMRS cluster in their country, and for their commitment to 
advancing the Internet in the continent."

By enabling meaningful connectivity in Africa, ICANN – a member of the 
International Telecommunication Union Telecommunication Development Sector 
(ITU-D) – also contributes to the goal of the Partner2Connect Digital Coalition 
initiative to bring connectivity and digital transformation to "hard-to-reach" 
communities.

"The Partner2Connect Digital Coalition is a game-changing opportunity for the 
ICT sector to take a holistic approach, catalyze new partnerships, and mobilize 
the resources needed to connect those who are still offline," said Doreen 
Bogdan-Martin, Director of the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau. I 
welcome ICANN's commitment toward Partner2Connect's goals to bring critical 
Internet infrastructure to Africa and advance universal connectivity and 
digital transformation."

Joseph Mucheru, E.G.H, Cabinet Secretary in the Kenyan ministry of ICT, 
Innovation and Youth Affairs, welcomed the investment. "This initiative is a 
welcome positive development both in line with the African Digital 
Transformation Strategy (2020-2030) and more specifically with Kenya's Digital 
Economy Blueprint which identifies infrastructure as one of the five key 
pillars necessary for the digital transformation of the economy. We therefore 
thank ICANN for their confidence in choosing Kenya one more time as one of the 
hosts of this important infrastructure that would serve not only Kenya, but the 
rest of Africa and the world. Implementation of this initiative will be of 
immense importance in accelerating the digital transformation agenda in Kenya."

The clusters will reduce the time it takes for a website to load, particularly 
when there are spikes in Internet usage. This will bring immediate benefits for 
everyday Internet users across the continent. Perhaps most important, the new 
IMRS clusters will reduce the impact of a potential cyberattack in the 
continent. Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) cyberattacks work by 
overwhelming servers with a flood of queries. With two separate IMRS cluster 
locations and higher bandwidth and data processing capacity, the risk of the 
Internet going down because of a cyberattack will be significantly reduced. 
Increased capacity lessens the impact of attacks.

This project is part of a larger ICANN initiative to expand the global presence 
of its roots servers by adding the two ICANN-operated and managed clusters in 
Africa to the existing clusters in North America, Asia and Europe.

Media Resources

ICANN in Africa FAQ

ICANN Managed Root Server (IMRS) FAQ

About ICANN
ICANN's mission is to help ensure a stable, secure, and unified global 
Internet. To reach another person on the Internet, you have to type an address 
– a name or a number – into your computer or other device. That address must be 
unique, so computers know where to find each other. ICANN helps coordinate and 
support these unique identifiers across the world. ICANN was formed in 1998 as 
a not-for-profit public-benefit corporation and a community with participants 
from all over the world.



SOURCE: ICANN 


CONTACT: Luna Madi, Communications Director, EMEA, Internet Corporation for 
Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), Mobile: +90 (533) 031 35 05, Email:  
luna.madi@icann.org or press@icann.org